Layla Gordon attended January’s Carrington Club Lunch today where she heard the news that the networking group is extending into London. The first networking event in London will be on the 22nd April. The Queens Hotel and Spa has been a loyal member of the Carrington Club since September 2008, and is always grateful and inspired by the events and members we meet there. Carrington is a business generation club which creates long term relationships, built up through regular network and social meetings. For further information visit www.carrington-club.co.uk

We would like to thank the organisers of South Coast Connections for last night’s successful event. Our team exhibited to over 120 attendees, and networked through the evening to a great group of business men and women from around Dorset.

Andrew Stoddart, Kelly Hillman and Richard Brown from The Queens Hotel and Spa

Kelly Hillman with Nigel Hedges and Mark Ellson from Bournemouth Chamber of Trade and Commerce

Photos by Steve Cook

David Burr – our General Manager was today provided a personal invitation to join the Mayor of Bournemouth in her Parlour for a Men’s Business Luncheon. This was partly a reciprocal invite as in August 2009 – The Queens Hotel and Spa was hosting the pilots and crew for the 2nd Bournemouth Airshow and the Mayor (Councillor Mrs Beryl Baxter ,Cmgr,MCMI & Mr. William Baxter) attended The Queens Hotel and Spa under David Burr’s invite for Afternoon Tea.

David Burr commented on the very pleasurable experience and conversation with her and the serving of a delightful Chinese Buffet Luncheon.

Our General Manager David Burr, and Co-owner James Gordon were proud to attended the hotels first networking event of the year, on Wednesday 20th January at The Crown Hotel in Blandford. Over 60 guests enjoyed lunch and networking with Dorset Business members and sponsor of the event, Humphries Kirk.

Established in 1949, Dorset Business, formerly known as Dorset Chamber of Commerce & Industry has a long and proud tradition of serving the business community.

Olga Vikhrova trained at theVaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petereberg and then she moved to England where she attained a teaching qualification at the Royal Ballet School in London in 1990.

Olga taught at the English National Ballet School, and then at Richmond College for fifteen years. She now teaches Pilates across Dorset and we are very lucky to have secured a schedule of lessons to be held at The Queens Hotel and Spa.

Pilates focuses on abdominal strength and uses techniques of continuous movement which tones and stretches the body to build strength and flexibility. It is great for all ages, relaxing and meditative. Classes are every Tuesday from 11am- 12pm in The Queensbury Suite next to Forever Gorgeous.

£7.50 per lesson

Alternatively, book a block of 6 lessons for £30 and get a 10% discount on treatments at Forever Gorgeous!! (Specially selected treatments will be highlighted at time of booking)

For further information or to book your session contact Olga on 0777 910 7551

On Tuesday 26th January, we are proud to be exhibiting our conference and banqueting facilities at South Coast Connections.

Come & join us for drinks, nibbles, meet new contacts, great speaker & excellent company from 5.30pm.

About the evening

This event marks the seventh South Coast Connections Networking event, the second following a successful re-launch in October with just over 100 attendees. Business-Scene regularly run successful Connections events around the UK, bringing together many of the local Business Networking groups under one roof, and offering a great opportunity for local businesses to expand their own business connections.

Joining us for this evening offers you the opportunity to meet other high calibre business delegates, openly network in a relaxed and friendly environment, build strong business relationships and gain valuable information about the issues that most affect your business.

Guest Speaker – Dr Dave Richards – Strategic Innovation Leadership!

Dr Dave is a strategic innovation leader who will challenge you to think of ways you can and should embrace opportunities to innovate – what you do, how you do it, what you deliver, how you market it, etc.

Since moving to the UK in 2007, he has already helped a diverse range of organisations develop clarity about their future, and start to make it happen! The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Ceuta Healthcare Group, the Home Office, TDSi, the Tank Museum, the Colour Works, the Anglo-European Chiropractic College, Motivational Maps, and Bournemouth University are just a few organisations who now have 2020 Vision!

As a co-founder of the Innovation Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, senior executive and serial entrepreneur, Dr Dave has engaged global innovation leaders ranging from multi-nationals including 3M, Oracle and Nortel, to startups. Could you be next?

Come and be inspired to lead, innovate and strategise!

For full details go to www.southcoastconnections.com or on Business Scene site www.business-scene.com

My new husband and I got married at the Queens Hotel followed by our breakfast reception along with our evening reception on the 10.1.2010. Everything was 100% first class service. The staff and management of the hotel were very accommodating and was always willing to do anything they could within their power to make our day run smoothly and without any hitches. The food was excellent and absolutely gorgeous and served piping hot. Tony Wilson, the Functions Manager and David Burr, The General Manager were also very at tentative and making sure all of our guests were happy and made sure everything ran smoothly.

They also have a fabulous spa which my fiancé used before our wedding to relax him and he said it was magnificent. A few of our other guests also used these facilities and said they were first class.

The rooms were very accommodating and spacious which is another thing the hotel put on for us so we could get ready for the ceremony without any hassles. They also gave us the Honeymoon Suite complimentary which comprised of a Four Poster Bed, Lounge area with tea/coffee facilities and the bathroom had a large round bath with shower… Absolutely fantastic….

Anybody looking to stay at this hotel for holiday or special occasions we would highly recommend you look seriously into going there.

Joanne and Salam Islam

On 8th January 2010 The Queens Hotel marketing and management team were proud to launch our brand new website. Packed full of new functions and images, the website shows the hotel in a new clear and even more welcoming light.

New features include an enhanced quick book widget and faster booking engine. The booking engine now also includes the option to pre-book dinner, spa treatments and refreshments for your room. In addition to this we now have a photo gallery with all our latest shots of the hotel. These images help show off some of the refurbishment projects but at the same time give a good overall picture of the hotels traditional image with modern touches.

More prominent is our ever growing newsletter and competition section. You can now simply fill in your details to receive our quarterly e-newsletter update and also enter our competition online from the homepage!

Last but not least are the quick links to our Twitter and Facebook pages so that you can become a ‘fan’ or a ‘follower’ of the hotel and keep up to date with all our latest news and offers. We hope you enjoy using our new site and we look forward to welcoming you to the hotel soon.

‘Experience just as impressive on second visit’…. Sam Revell of The Daily Echo Reviews Sunday Lunch at The Queens Hotel and Spa, November 2009

THIS is the second time I have been to the Queens Hotel for Sunday lunch – so impressed was I with my first visit.
Set just back from the sea in Bournemouth’s salubrious East Cliff area and not far from the town-centre Lansdowne, the Queens Hotel really is in an enviable location. A great choice, then, for a Sunday lunch, and so my friend and I headed there to enjoy a four course meal in a lovely dining area. After parking up in the large car park we entered the impressive-looking building and walked through to the restaurant.

The four courses consisted of a starter, soup or sorbet, main and dessert, as well as coffee to finish – all for the very reasonable sum of £15.95.

When the menu came I was bowled over by the sheer choice available. After some lengthy debate, I opted for the avocado, brie and smoked chicken salad with crisp pancetta bacon and Caesar dressing to start. My friend chose the roulade of smoked Scottish salmon filled with creamed cheese and prawns, which was also very pleasing, both aesthetically and on the palate.

For the second round of starters – the soup or sorbet – I opted for the spicy French onion soup and my friend had the refreshing fruit sorbet. The soup was delightful and the sorbet cleansed the palate fantastically, ready for the main course.

When choosing our main courses my friend and I took longer than expected, purely because of the sheer variety available. Chicken, fish and beef dishes are available in different guises, as well as delightful-sounding vegetarian options. However, my gaze was caught by the duck breast with savoury seasoning, apple sauce and red wine jus. My friend opted for the supreme of chicken served with tomato ragout, melted brie and pancetta bacon – both came with all the exquisite trimmings one would expect of a top-quality Sunday lunch. My duck was everything I had hoped for – succulent and tender – and the chicken was mouthwateringly good.

For dessert we could choose the hot option – apricot sponge with custard – or select from the “help yourself” buffet of cold deserts, which displayed all the options on a large table, making it even harder to choose, as we could see them in all their glory. We decided to take a trip to the dessert banquet table where I picked out a rum baba that tasted every bit as good as it looked and my friend had a very light and tasty crème brulee. Both deserts received a big thumbs-up from the pair of us.

The meal had been accompanied throughout by live lounge piano music, featuring classic swing hits, at just the right level to create a pleasant background atmosphere for the meal without being too intrusive or forcing loud conversation.
We discussed exactly how impressed we’d been with the whole meal over coffee, commenting on the incredibly efficient service we’d received all day.

For more information call The Queens Hotel on 01202 554415.

Sam Revell

The Queens Hotel and Spa

We are in a prime position on Bournemouth’s East Cliff, only a short walk from the award winning, Blue Flag, golden sandy beaches, pier and Bournemouth’s vibrant town centre. The Pavilion Theatre and the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) are also in close proximity. We have excellent conference facilities that can accommodate up to 300 delegates in our outstanding function suites, along with weddings, birthdays, celebrations, banquets, and quality coach tours.